As mentioned previously here, both Devin and myself will be making our predictions round by round for both the NHL and NBA playoffs. We encourage you to join in, so either email one of us your picks, or comment on one of our posts with your picks before the 1st round gets started. Devin will have his picks posted tomorrow, but the series begin on Wednesday, so make sure you get your picks to us before then. Scoring is pretty simple, you get 5 points for picking the correct series winner and a bonus 5 points if you get the number of games correct as well. Results will be posted as we progress through each round. So without any further ado, here are my first round picks.

Eastern Conference:
1. Boston vs. 8. Montreal

These two teams are very familiar with one another and history suggests this matchup will be closer than it likely ought to be. The main difference for me is that Tim Thomas has had a Vezina like campaign this season for Boston while Carey Price has been shaky at best. Boston is also a much more physical team which usually wins out come playoff time. Montreal has been a very up and down team all year long and this series depends entirely on which Canadiens unit shows up. I think they'll play well enough to present a challenge, but ultimately not well enough to advance. I'll take the Bruins in 6, but they should at least be tested in the 1st round.

Bruins in 6 games

2. Washington vs. 7. NY Rangers

I expect this series to go the distance as this is a pure offense vs. defense battle. The Caps were near the leaders in scoring this season, while the Rangers are a very defensive minded team. The goalie matchup, which is always a big deal in the postseason is leaning in the favor of the Rangers with Henrik Lundqvist. Jose Theodore remains a bit of a question mark for the Capitals, but luckily this Ovechkin guy is pretty good. Playoff experience is also very heavily in New York's favor, but ultimately their inability to score is going to hurt them. Washington takes this one in 7 games and I expect at least one horribly stupid antic from Sean Avery and at least one incredible game from Ovechkin.

Caps in 7 games

3. New Jersey vs. 6. Carolina
This series seems to have the most likelihood for an upset in the East, as Carolina has been the hottest team in the league down the stretch. The Hurricanes have a fair amount of fire power offensively and the return of Erik Cole at the trade deadline has really given them a spark. Add to that Cam Ward's very high level of play as of late, Vezina like in fact, and the Canes are a tough task for the Devils in the first round. I'm picking against them for two reasons though really... 1. I can't stand picking against Martin Brodeur in a close matchup, he's just a machine, and with the bolstered offense in NJ this season, lead by Zach Parise, Brodeur could make the difference. 2. I think we all know at this point I don't much care for the Hurricanes and more particularly their fans. If they lose in the first round, the bandwagon empties in a hurry and I don't have to hear about them every where I turn for a long while. Devils in 6, at least I hope.

Devils in 6 games

4. Pittsburgh vs. 5. Philadelphia
Well, this was going to be my upset pick (though not much of one) in the East, until Philly couldn't handle their business yesterday and lost the home ice advantage in this series. This should be a high scoring series if nothing else, as both teams are definitely offensively based. Philly is terrific on the power play, but not so much the rest of the time, so if Pittsburgh can stay out of the penalty box, it'll go a long way for their cause. Marty Biron is a good goalie in this league, but he seems to have trouble playing at a high level for more than a few games at a time, and that's a problem this time of year. At the end of the day, Pittsburgh has more firepower with Crosby, Malkin, and company, and while this may not be the same team that made the Cup Finals last year, they're going to get at least one step closer than Philly this year. Penguins win this one in 6 games.

Penguins in 6 games

Western Conference:
1. San Jose vs. 8. Anaheim

While these two teams don't have the traditions of Boston and Montreal, the 1/8 matchup in the West is equally intriguing. Most probably haven't noticed, but these two California teams have been amongst the best in the West for several years now. Only one of them has translated that success in the postseason however. The Sharks come in as President's Trophy winners with the best record in the league, but they have struggled in the playoffs the past few years. The Ducks on the other hand, come in much like Carolina in the East, as one of the hottest teams in the league as of late. Anaheim has the core group of veterans from their Cup winning team still in tact and will be a handful for San Jose. I think the outcome of this series lies directly on the shoulders of Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and I'll take the Sharks in 7... but I won't be the least bit surprised to see Anaheim pull off the upset.

Sharks in 7

2. Detroit vs. 7. Columbus
Detroit stumbled into the playoffs, not doing well at all down the stretch. That doesn't much matter though, they've got loads of playoff experience on their roster and they're the defending Cup winners. Columbus on the other hand is making their postseason debut, and even their best players don't really have the playoff experience to rely on either. Rookie goaltender Steve Mason has been impressive to say the least this year, but this is a completely different environment now and the Red Wings fire power might have him sweating bullets. The Red Wings have question marks in net with Chris Osgood and Ty Conklin as neither have been overly consistent this year, but both are playoff tested and proven, and either will be good enough to get by the Blue Jackets. Detroit takes this series in 5 games at most.

Red Wings in 5

3. Vancouver vs. 6. St. Louis
This series is a difficult one to pick for several reasons. First, I'll admit to not seeing hardly anything from either of these teams throughout the year. Second, they both come in absolutely on fire through the late part of the season. Neither of these teams has any playoff experience to speak of really, with Vancouver making the lone playoff appearance between the two since the lockout season. St. Louis has risen up from being one of the worst teams in the league to in the middle of the playoffs now and they do so despite having an injury riddled season. Vancouver's Roberto Luongo is one of the best goaltenders in the league and the logic here should be to go with him as the deciding factor. For some reason though, my instincts tell me to take the Blues in this series, so that's what I'm doing... St. Louis in 6 games.

Blues in 6

4. Chicago vs. 5. Calgary
Calgary kind of fell apart down the stretch and handed the division over to Vancouver, though to be fare, injuries had something to do with that. The Flames are banged up, especially amongst their defensemen. Trade deadline pickup Ollie Jokinen will finally get to see some playoff action and if he can rekindle (yes, that's a bad Flames pun right there!) the spark he brought initially, it'll go a long way towards Calgary advancing. The Blackhawks on the other hand are one of the youngest teams in the league and have little playoff experience. It'll be interesting to see how Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews handle the increased spotlight of the playoffs. I see Kiprusoff outplaying Khabibulin in this series and it ultimately making the difference. The Blackhawks are going to have plenty of future opportunities with their youth, but this isn't their year. Honestly, my main reason for picking the Flames is because I haven't picked a single Canadian team to advance so far, and that simply wouldn't be good business for the NHL. Calgary moves on in 7 games.

Flames in 7 games